Friday, March 30, 2012

Do you believe the dragon

Hi,

this is an end snippet for the "Choose Your Own Adventure Bloghop". If you want to read the whole adventure (or at least a whole path of it, since there are more than one), please click on the start logo.

Do you believe the dragon and run to the dojo to search for the relic?

You allow the dragon to take you to the dojo. A weird blue light surrounds the house, and your knees shake when you pass it. Nothing happens. Inside, you find Sensei on the ground in a fetal position. He snores gently. Gingerly, you step over him and walk into his office. You close the door. Somehow, it doesn’t feel right to search his belongings while he’s sleeping so close.

You are thorough in your search but you don’t find anything resembling a toothpick. On the other side of the wall, the dragon’s deep rumbling voice hollers.

"See the picture of the woman at the wall? There is a secret compartment behind it. Maybe, it’s there."

You turn to the picture. It showed a beautiful young woman in traditional garb in a zen garden. The snoring in the neighboring room increases in volume as you reach out for the picture. Wasn’t it a portrait of Sensei’s wife? You remember he told you she left him years ago.

Feeling dizzy, you kneel. Breathing the way Sensei had taught you, you manage to stand up. There must have been a protective spell on the picture. You focus your gaze on where the picture had been before. The compartment was hardly an inch deep and lined with black velvet. Two toothpicks hung in loops – one as long as your arm, the other shorter than your index finger. Why two? You wonder why the dragon hadn’t told you about the second one. For a moment, you ponder which one to take when you realize the snoring had stopped.

"Hurry up, he’s waking." The dragon says.

You pull the big toothpick from its hold. What would a dragon do with a pick the right size for a human anyway? In a few strides, you’re out of the room, hurry past Sensei, and leave the dojo. The dragon is waiting outside.

"Stop!" Sensei comes running after you. The blue light that surrounded the dojo wraps around you and holds you prisoner.

"Throw me the relic," the dragon calls.

You look at the toothpick with the carving of a beautiful woman curled around the top. Then, your gaze travels to Sensei who’s approaching fast, and to the dragon eagerly reaching out for the relic. Now is your last chance to reconsider. Should you believe the dragon or Sensei?

Your resolve hardens; your arm draws back and flings forward in a flash. The toothpick sails through the air and lands in the dragon’s outstretched hands.

"No!" It screams as blue mist swirls around it.

"No!" Sensei cries and drops to the ground beside him.

The blue mist falls in on itself, leaving a human figure spread face down on the ground. The blue light that captured you dissolves setting you free. You hurry over to the unconscious person. The woman is naked. Sensei steps beside you with a blanket.

"Cover her with this. She’ll be furious when she wakes." He’s smiling at you. "I didn’t think you had it in you."

Not grasping the meaning of his words, you stutter, "I thought it was a man. The voice was so deep."

"Don’t you know a thing about physics? The longer a cord, the deeper the sound. And a dragon’s vocal cords are much longer than a human’s. Even in mind-speech." Sensei picked up the naked woman and wrapped her gently into the blanket. When he turns her, you gasp with surprise. It’s the woman from the picture – Sensei’s wife.

"I’m really glad to have her back, but she won’t like it one bit," he says. "How come you took the pick that would turn her back into a human? I’m sure she showed you the one with the dragon curled around the top. It would have sealed her in dragon form for good."

You remember the tiny toothpick. Laughter bubbles up inside of you. Well, it was the woman’s own fault for putting so much pressure on you. With more time, you’d have picked the right one. You watch Sensei carry his wife into the dojo. It’s so hard to stifle your laughter.

Friends

About Me

Katharina Gerlach was born in Germany in 1968. She and her three
younger brothers grew up in the middle of a forest in the heart of the
Luneburgian Heather. After romping through the forest with imagination
as her guide, the tomboy learned to read and disappeared into magical
adventures, past times or eerie fairytale woods.

She didn’t stop at reading. During her training as a landscape
gardener, she wrote her first novel, a manuscript full of a beginner’s
mistakes. Fortunately, she found books on Creative Writing and soon her
stories improved. For a while, reality interfered with her writing but
after finishing a degree in forestry and a PhD in Science she returned
to her vocation. She likes to write Fantasy, Science Fiction and
Historical Novels for all age groups.

At present, she is writing at her next project in a small house near
Hildesheim, Germany, where she lives with her husband, three children
and a dog. Katharina Gerlach has had various short stories published in
Germany as well as a non-fiction e-book in US-Fantasy author Holly
Lisle’s “The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About …” series.